Unexpected Unmasking
by jpaez
Summary: Diego tries to hide an injury he received while defending his lady love as Zorro.


**I do not own the rights to Zorro, all rights are owned by the creators of Zorro. This story is for entertainment only.**

**I would like to thank all my friends and family, who have encouraged me to write. You know who you are, and I am thankful for all the help you have given me. This is my 2nd story so far, and I still have several that will be posted when I get the time to type, and have them preread. Enjoy!  
**

**Unexpected Unmasking**

"Diego, Diego wake up," Victoria shook her friend's shoulder gently;" you need to wake up."

"Huh, Oh I am sorry, I feel asleep late last night," Diego woke with a slow start and looked around him. "I was really eager to find out what happened at the end of my new book, so I stayed up late reading."

"You really should go to bed at a decent time," she said as she gave him a small smile, "would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you, but I think I should be getting home so I can get some sleep. I have a few chores I need to help my father with around the hacienda this afternoon." Diego stood up and pushed his chair under the table, but lost his balance as he let go of the chair.

"Do you want to sleep in a spare room upstairs for a few hours? You really should not be riding home when you can not stand up on your own two legs very steadily." Victoria's voice was full of concern.

"No, I will be fine, but thank you for the offer. I really need to get home." Diego slowly walked to the Tavern door.

Victoria noticed that he was favoring his right side a little. Maybe he slept the wrong way and pulled something. Just before he reached the door, his legs gave out from under him, and he fell to the floor.

Victoria rushed over to him, and helped him sit up, "are you alright? Are you sure you do not want to stay and sleep for a few hours?" Panic was spread all over her face as she helped him sit on a nearby bench.

As he sat down, she noticed that he was still favoring his right side. She called for a few of the men who were just about to leave the Tavern," Could you please help me get him up to a room; he needs to lie down and rest. He is not feeling well and should not be on a horse."

Two men came over and helped carry Diego up to a room and laid him down on the bed.

"Thank you for helping me senors," she thanked them kindly, but the worried look never left her face.

"You are welcome, but what happened to him? Why did he fall over like that?" Each man gave her a concerned look as they left the room.

"He said he stayed up late reading, and he fell asleep at one of the tables, but I am not sure why he fell. Maybe his leg fell asleep, but he still needs to rest before going home," Victoria let the two men go ahead of her and she closed the door behind her.

As they went down the stairs, Victoria thought about a few things she noticed about Diego when he first came in. He came in early and looked like he had not slept in a while. He was not hungry, and he did favor his right side as he sat down. He was fast asleep face down on the table with his arms folded under his head before she had a chance to ask if he wanted anything. He looked so peaceful and relaxed; she let him sleep for a few hours. She was thankful he had sat down at a table in a corner next to the far wall. It was dark and out-of-the-way of the major walking path.

She heard the men ask if she was alright. "I am fine, it has been a long morning and I am ready for a nap." Victoria said with a big yawn. She closed the Tavern for siesta and went up to check on Diego.

As she entered the room, Diego was sleeping, but not peacefully. He was twitching, and in a fitful sleep. His right side still seemed to bother him.

Victoria went over to the bed and began to remove his boots, but as she pulled his right boot off, he jumped and groaned in pain.

"Diego, what's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Concern covered her face as she helped him relax back into the pillows. Now she was really worried, "why is he in so much pain? What could her overly careful friend do to hurt himself now?" She thought to herself.

Diego was falling asleep as Victoria pulled the covers over him. Just as she was about to cover his side she noticed a few spots of blood seeping through his white shirt.

"Oh no, Diego you are bleeding, and I need to stop it. Sorry if I hurt you, I am only trying to help," she apologized as she began unbuttoning his shirt and looking for the wound at the same time. Her worried eyes searched his right side, and when she found the white bandage just above his pants waist, she carefully removed it. She was in shock when she saw the cut that had caused him so much pain.

"I will be right back Diego. I need to get some fresh water and bandages," she gave him a small but questioning smile. She was back at his side a few minutes later with the quickly gathered supplies.

"Diego, how did you cut yourself?" Victoria looked at him with worried and questioning eyes. He wanted to avoid her question, but knew he couldn't. He had to tell her the truth.

"Victoria," Diego said between gritted teeth, "there is something I need to tell you." The fiery pain shot down his side and made it hard for him to see her.

"What would that be Diego?" She put more pressure on the open cut to stop the bleeding and looked up into his blue eyes.

A low painful hiss slipped out from between his teeth and he tried to push her hand away.

"Victoria, I have hidden something from you for a long time, and I feel it is time to share it with you. Please do not get mad at me." His pleading eyes followed down to where she was still holding a cloth over the open cut.

"Diego, please let me tend to your wound first, then we can talk," she told him quickly. His blue eyes watched her carefully as she stitched and bandaged the deep cut.

"She is so beautiful, and I love her so much. I hope telling her that I am her masked love is the right thing to do now. Telling her is very dangerous, but keeping my true feelings hidden from her is getting harder by the day. I hope she forgives me for deceiving her for the past five years." Diego thought to himself as she cleaned and covered the cut carefully. She pulled the covers up over him to help keep him warm.

"Victoria can we talk now," Diego grabbed her hand as she was smoothing the blanket out over his chest.

"Yes, but only for a few minutes, you need to rest so you can get strong enough to move around on your own," she gave him a stern look and pulled a chair up next to the bed.

"Victoria," he looked at her as if he was sorry and worried, "I have kept a secret from you for a long time, and if I do not tell you now, it will only make it harder for you later."

"Go ahead Diego, I am listening," she smiled at him sweetly, but then realized that she was seeing a different side of her friend. A look of shock crossed her face as she stared at Diego. Could it really be true? My best friend could not possibly be who he reminds me of at this moment . Only one man has ever looked at me that way, and he was injured last night during a fight with a few rowdy drunks that were eying me in a very bad way. Only he left before I could stop him. Could it be possible?

She noticed Diego staring at her, "Sorry Diego, go ahead. I just thought of a few things that need to get done before the end of siesta, but Pilar can take care of them for me," she looked at him, and noticed that he was still holding her hand and looking at her with big blue eyes.

"Victoria, do you remember when I came back from Spain? There was a disagreement, and then you and my father were taken to the alcalde's jail," he looked at her still worried.

"Yes, I do remember that day Diego," she replied slowly.

"Well, I could not sit around and allow my father and a dear friend to stay in the alcalde's dirty jail for very long," he paused waiting for a reaction from her, "I decided that the only thing I could do was to get you out, but I could not get caught or I would be joining you and my father. I needed to disguise myself somehow, and that is when I made a plan, and it worked. But I realized that I could use my plan to help others also when I noticed how scared the alcalde and his men were of me. This secret has kept us apart for far too long, and I need to move on with my life," he looked at Victoria, and noticed that she looked pale and very still. "Victoria, are you alright?"

"Yes Diego, I am fine, but I am still confused about how I could not see it before. Are you telling me that you have hidden behind two masks for the past five years?" She stared at him as she asked him quietly and slowly. Diego was confused and surprised at her question. "How did she figure out my secret?" He thought to himself. He smiled carefully at her; he wanted to tell her in a way she could understand, without getting upset with him.

"Yes Victoria, I am telling you that I am Zorro," he paused to watch her reaction, "I will explain why I hid my double life at a better time. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them." He finished and took a deep breath. He felt better that he did not have to carry this big secret by himself anymore, but he worried about her safety now that she knew the identity of Zorro.

Victoria had so many questions she wanted to ask him, and she did not want to wait till later, "Why did you keep going out as Zorro if you really wanted to stop and live a normal life?" Victoria questioned him. She still looked pale and shocked. Her eyes slide over to a corner of the room where Zorro stood several times waiting for her to come to her room for the night. He was forced to answer her questions, and explain himself sooner than he thought.

Diego could tell she was puzzle piecing what she had just learned together in her mind. "I was protecting those I loved. If you, my father, or anyone close to me had known my identity, they would surely hang next to me if I was captured. So I had to act like boring Diego, a man who would not even harm a fly, so people could not connect us together as one. I am sorry if this secret has hurt you, but please understand that I was protecting you and my family from harm. It has not been easy for me, and it was brought to my attention, that I have slipped up a few too many times, and now a few people are asking questions." Diego sat up in bed carefully and pulled her towards him, and looked into her brown eyes. "I do not want to hurt you in anyway, please forgive me."

Victoria felt him pull her closer and met his gaze, "Diego, I forgive you, and yes I understand why you kept this double life of yours a secret, but I think I knew who you really were behind that mask, I just did not believe it until you told me," She looked at him and smiled.

Her color was coming back, and the shock wearing off, but her fiery temper could still show itself if he was not careful. "So, if you had an idea of who Zorro was," he paused, "why did you not say anything?" His eyes were full of wonder.

"Because each time I was sure of my hunch, you/Zorro would do something that made me question my self again. You have slipped up more often, and each time you do, you try to cover it up, but not before I notice." She explained to him as she moved closer to him, and started to run her fingers through his dark hair. He could feel her body relax and saw her eyes fill with love.

"Oh, Diego, I love you, and I forgive you for hiding your double life from me, but please promise me one thing, " she gave him a pleading look and continued to play with the hair at his neck.

"Anything for you mi amor," he pulled her even closer, until they were almost nose to nose.

"No more secrets between us, I want an honest life with the man I love," she softly kissed his lips.

"I promise, no more secrets between us," Diego managed to say before he deepened the kiss. Several minutes later they broke apart, each out of breath; they smiled and hugged each other tightly.

"I love you Diego, but you need to rest. You still look tired and your wound might start bleeding again if you move around too much." Victoria stood up and covered him up again. She really wanted to stay in his arms, but knew that she had lots of work to do, and he needed some rest. "I will bring you some soup and warm tea when I can." She leaned down to kiss him quickly on the lips and turned to leave the room.

"Victoria, I love you, and thank you for taking such great care of me," Diego whispered to her as she was about to open the door and leave. "I will be more careful the next time I see a broken glass bottle flying at me," he said with a sheepish smile.

"You certainly will Diego De La Vega, next time take the fight outside. I had a big mess to clean up after you left last night," she gave him a look that made him want to run away and hide, but then her stern look changed to a soft smile.

Diego could only say, "yes, señorita." The look on his face made her laugh, and she came back over to the bed and helped him get comfortable.

"You need to rest, I will be back to check on you later." She gave him another quick kiss on the forehead and headed for the door.

"Victoria," Diego called just before she closed the door behind her.

"Do you need something," she looked at him and just smiled.

"No, I do not need anything now, but please hurry back as soon as you can. I need to ask you something that will change both of our lives," he gave her a Zorro smile that touched both of their hearts.

"I certainly will mi amor, but for now you need to rest," she gave him a loving smile and closed the door. As Victoria made her way down the stairs to begin dinner preparations, she found herself smiling and thinking about how much her life was going to change. Her future was looking brighter and busier already.

About three hours later, Victoria made her way up to Diego's room. "Diego, are you awake?" She poked her head in and noticed that he was awake, but seemed to be thinking about something deeply. "Diego, I have some food waiting for you downstairs, would you like to join me while I eat, or do you want me to bring it up to you?" She moved over to the side of the bed and sat down. She reached over to hold his hand and looked at him with concern. "Are you in pain?" Worry crossed over her face. She forgot about dinner, and moved over to the side of the bed.

"No, I am fine, just thinking," he replied with a small smile and reached for her other hand.

Then she remembered that he wanted to ask her something, "What was it that you wanted to ask me earlier?" She smiled at him lovingly and her eyes filled with excitement.

"I wanted to ask you this," he sat up slowly and started to uncover, "Victoria," he stood up carefully so he would not reopen his wound and guided her to a chair, "will you marry me?" He finished as he dropped down onto one knee. The look on his face was filled with hope.

"Yes, I will marry you," she responded with a huge smile and gave him the biggest hug and kiss.

"Victoria, mi amor, I promise to protect and love you for the rest of my life." He finished saying just as he leaned his head down to claim her waiting lips.

"We need to figure out how to convince the town's people Victoria and Zorro are no longer together," Diego told her after he gentle broke the kiss off before he lost control of his emotions. "Do not worry about it Diego, I know just what to do." The determined smile she gave him made him wonder what he was in for.

A few days later Zorro rode into town and reminded the alcalde of how unfair it was to tax the people of Los Angeles for the use of horses in town. De Soto was in his office, and heard some commotion outside. He looked out his door and saw the outlaw Zorro riding over to the fountain. Zorro stopped next to the fountain and called for the Alcalde to come out. "Alcalde, we need to have a talk about this new tax of yours," Zorro said with seriousness. "Zorro you are under arrest, lancers get him," De Soto yelled. "Alcalde, you have not caught me yet, and what makes you think you are this time?" Zorro dismounted and moved closer to De Soto's office slowly. When the lancers did not come as quickly as De Soto wanted them too, he was forced to go out and fight this outlaw himself. "I will get you this time Zorro," De Soto pulled out his sword and lunged at Zorro. Zorro side-stepped and saluted the alcalde, "we will see about that." De Soto looked around nervously, and almost fell over when he came close to getting cut with Zorro's sharp saber. "Pay more attention to what you are doing alcalde, or you might find yourself head first in an empty barrel," the outlaw teased his enemy. "I am smarter than that Zorro," De Soto said through gritted teeth. "Are you now, well we will just have to see about that," Zorro pulled out his whip and lashed it out around the alcalde's ankles. De Soto fell when Zorro pulled his feet out from under him, and was further humiliated when the masked bandit put an empty barrel over his head. De Soto was so embarrassed he sat there on the dusty ground with the barrel over his head, while the town's people laughed at him. "Better luck next time alcalde," Zorro said with a wicked smile, and carved his Z onto the barrel. Zorro looked over at the Tavern and noticed Victoria watching him. He wondered if he should go over there or leave before the alcalde got up and removed the barrel. He decided to go over and see his lady-love.

"Senorita, you look lovelier each time I see you," Zorro reached for her hand so he could kiss it.

"Zorro, we need to talk," she gave him a serious look and led him to the porch.

"I do not understand. Have I done something wrong?" A painful look filled his eyes. He quickly caught onto what she was up to, and followed her lead.

"No, you haven't done anything wrong. I have thought about our future, and I have come to a decision. We will never truly be happy together if you are always in fear of endangering me because we love each other. The alcalde will stop at nothing to get your identity, and so far all of his plans have failed. At some point he will succeed and someone will get hurt or worse yet killed. I could not bear to see you hang, so I feel we need to reconsider our relationship. Zorro we need to go our separate ways to protect both of our lives. The alcalde will hopefully stop using me as bait and you can still keep working knowing that I am safe," she looked into his sad blue eyes.

"Are you sure this is what you want? Is there someone else in your life?" Zorro questioned her.

"Yes, this is what I want. Your work will never be done here. I need to move on with my life, and yes, there is someone else that I love. A very kind, loving gentleman who will protect me and give me the family I want." Victoria gave him a sad look, but pushed forward. "Diego loves me very much, and I love him."

"Diego De La Vega, but he is so clumsy, and is always reading, painting, or sleeping." Zorro gave her a quick smile only Victoria could see, and changed his face to a disappointed look for the town's people to see.

"There is a side of him that many have not seen, and I love him very much." She looked at him with a please follow my lead look, and then continued. "Please forgive me for breaking your heart, I still have feelings for you, but they have changed."

Zorro noticed that she was really upset and was concerned about her.

"We really need to talk about this Victoria. Please give me another chance," he pleaded.

"Please leave Zorro, we are over, and understand that I have moved on with my life," she stared at him sadly.

"Please give me another chance," he begged.

"No, I love Diego, and by the way, we are engaged to be married." Victoria told him with a forced smile.

"Fine, I wish you luck and remember that if you need anything, I will be around." Zorro said sadly as he walked toward Toronado.

"Thank you for understanding and I know Diego can protect me just fine," Victoria said loud enough for a few of the locals to hear.

Zorro mounted Toronado and began to ride away. He turned and gave her a disappointed look as he left the pueblo. The lancers ran through the army gates, and chased Zorro out of the pueblo. The Alcalde removed the barrel, with the lancers help, and got up slowly and made his way back to his office to hide.

Later that evening Diego and Victoria were in the De La Vega garden. "I did not know you were such a great actress," Diego told Victoria as he tried to hide a smile.

"I told you to leave it to me, and now we can get married and start a family. I also had a great teacher," she playfully slapped him on the arm and leaned over to kiss him. I learned from the best." She smiled up at him.

"You certainly did, and now I want to reward you for those great acting skills." He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips and was quickly rewarded himself.

The disagreement between Zorro and Victoria was the talk of the town for weeks. Diego and Victoria made their engagement public news and of course questions were raised. Zorro came to town when the alcalde needed to be reminded of how the town's people should be treated, but did not even look at Victoria.

Three months later Diego and Victoria married.


End file.
